Daylight savings time and seasonal affective disorder

This weekend marks the beginning of daylight savings time, and some experts say this is a difficult time for people who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. Moving the clock ahead limits the amount of morning light for the next few weeks – which is important for people with the disorder.

This weekend marks the beginning of daylight savings time, and some experts say this is a difficult time for people who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. Moving the clock ahead limits the amount of morning light for the next few weeks – which is important for people with the disorder.

People who have Seasonal Affective Disorder experience bouts of depression during the darker fall and winter months. Dr. Mark Rothman, chief medical officer of Friends Hospital in Philadelphia says in many ways, daylight savings time means the beginning of Spring – and that’s more important than one hour of light:

Rothman: The morning light is the most crucial, but still, it’s not so much the daylight savings time itself but the seasonal changes in mood of a negative nature, so it’s not really clear that the change of the one hour would be crucial but it would be the general shift in the overall seasonal pattern.

This is the third year that switching to Day Light Savings Time has come in March. Until 2007, the clocks were set ahead in April.